THE countdown to the 142nd New Year sprint is well and truly on after last week’s draw threw up several exciting clashes.

Hawick has produced nine winners over the years – in T. Williamson (1881), J. Jackson (1890), Tommy Dickson (1965), Andrew Walker (1982), John Mallin (1990), Malcolm Elliot (1992), David Lauder (2002), Leigh Marshall (2008) and Daniel Paxton (2009) – and the town will once again be well represented at Musselburgh racecourse on December 31 when nine Teri peds get down on their marks in the 12-heat event which carries a first prize of £4,000.

A potential winner could come from the opening heat in which Clackmannan’s Martyn Paterson (6.5m) looks the likely victor. Rarely seen on the Border Games scene, Paterson caught the eye in reaching the final of the Jedburgh Games 110m handicap. Competing then from a standing start instead of blocks, Paterson certainly has a lot to offer on this showing.

Heat three sees the first appearance of Hawick runners when Royal Albert footballer Douglas Prowse (8m) and Lee Notman (7.5m) clash. Also in this one is Jedburgh teenager Sebastian Harrison (7.75m). Coached by Brian ‘Chico’ Woods, Harrison won the Hawick Games sprint in great style in June. The young Jed flyer did little for the remainder of the season, but watch out for him at Musselburgh.

Hawick-trained Colin Bruce, of Selkirk, goes off 11.5m in heat four.

Strong-running Teri Ross Borthwick (9m), who notched up several creditable wins during the summer months, has been drawn in heat five.

The sixth heat sees Hawick’s John Paxton competing off 14.5m. Lining up against Paxton is Langholm’s Jordan Maxwell (10m), a product of Hawick’s Lee Notman/Drew Bryson stable. The stylish Maxwell is liable to show up well in a hot heat which also includes Jedburgh’s Greg Turnbull (4m), a beaten finalist last year.

Hawick pair Drew Bryson (19.5m) and Leigh Marshall (5.75m) face each other in heat seven. Victor in the New Year sprint in 2008, Marshall could well have what it takes to triumph again – which would be some feat.

Training companions Ryan Trimby (10m) and Gary Wilson (13.5m), from the Billy Edgar school, find themselves up against each other in heat eight.

In the eleventh heat, Hawick’s David Rae (7.5m) bids for a cross-tie spot, along with flying Turk Iskan Barskanmay (5.5m), formerly of Hawick but now of Jedburgh.

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Capital athletes Greg Turnbull and Steven Charters will be off four metres and 4.25m for the 142nd annual New Year Sprint at Musselburgh Racecourse on December 31 and January 1.

Last year's runner-up, Turnbull, has been cut by 1.5m compared to last time, but is still 1.5m better off than back-marker Craig Fleming (Kilbarchan), whose name will go into the draw with 81 others at Musselburgh on Monday.

Former Scottish 200m champion Francis Smith (Pitreavie) is at the back, off 5.25m.

The 2006 winner, Cumbie Bowers (Glenrothes), is off 5.5m, as is Kelso runner Iskan Barskanmay, who was third last time. For her debut, World bobsleigh champion Gillian Cooke (Edinburgh) receives a start of 16.5m, while Commonwealth Games 400m runner and former finalist Gemma Nicol (Dunfermline) is off 15.75m.

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Athletics: Sprinter Smith to miss New Year run due to flit abroadBy SANDY SUTHERLANDThe Scotsman22 November 2010

The New Year Athletics Meeting at Musselburgh next month will be without one of its staunchest supporters.

Scotland's top sprinter Nick Smith is re-locating to New Zealand shortly in a bid to breathe new life into his athletics career and will miss the New Year professional gala which he has plundered regularly in recent years as he mopped up the top scratch prizes.

Smith won the big sprint ten years ago at the age of only 18, the youngest ever winner at the time, and has been supporting the meeting ever since, though in recent years concentrating on the scratch and short limit events.

He will be away for most of 2011 and will also miss all the major championships including the Scottish Indoors and Outdoors where he is the defending champion.

The Stewart's Melville FP, who is coached by former British professional sprint champion Stuart Hogg, has been six times Scottish 100 metres champion and won the Scottish Indoor 60 metres title for a record seventh time at Kelvin Hall last winter.

He went on to smash Elliot Bunney's Scottish National record.

"I'll be away for at least six to eight months - I just need a bit of a change," says Smith, who was desperately disappointed to miss out on Scotland's team for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi last month as he had not made the qualifying time.

Smith, who will also attend his elder sister Julie's wedding in Christchurch, has been taking a course in Edinburgh to become a personal fitness trainer, a career he hopes to pursue at least part-time over there.

"I'm going to try to get as many races as I can in New Zealand - it's a great country and I've been in touch with some people including a coach who has a group of sprinters I can work with," he added.

"It's going to be quite a bit of a challenge for me but I still believe I can sneak back into a GB team in future, though it's difficult under the system now."

Having taken the Scottish 100m title in 2002 and 2003, Smith went to the Athens Olympics in 2004 as a member of the British 4 x 100 metres relay squad but failed to get a run. His career then took a dip until he returned to his first coach Hogg, who steered him to the last four National 100 metres titles in a row.

Smith, 28 next month, has no intention of retiring and has not ruled out bidding for a place at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.